Family Security Matters Advocates Bush become ‘President-for-Life’

By Arabesque

"If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator."[1] George Bush, December 18, 2000

An organization called “Family Security Matters” with links to Dick Cheney promotes the idea that Bush should be dictator for life:

“He could then follow Caesar's example and use his newfound popularity with the military to wield military power to become the first permanent president of America, and end the civil chaos caused by the continually squabbling Congress and the out-of-control Supreme Court.  President Bush can fail in his duty to himself, his country, and his God, by becoming ‘ex-president’ Bush or he can become ‘President-for-Life’ Bush: the conqueror of Iraq, who brings sense to the Congress and sanity to the Supreme Court. Then who would be able to stop Bush from emulating Augustus Caesar and becoming ruler of the world? For only an America united under one ruler has the power to save humanity from the threat of a new Dark Age wrought by terrorists armed with nuclear weapons."[2] Philip Atkinson, Conquering the Drawbacks of Democracy [sic]

This embarrassing article was quickly deleted, presumably over negative feedback. 

Blogger Mark Parent connects the dots:

“Well, it turns out that "Family Security Matters (FSM) is a front group for the Center for Security Policy (CSP), a conservative Washington think tank ‘committed to the time-tested philosophy of promoting international peace through American strength.’ (The phone number listed on the FSM website is answered by the CSP.)  So now we are led to the Center for Security Policy, and who's connected to that group?  Dick Cheney, Vice President of the U.S. under George W. Bush, was an early member of Center's Board of Advisors (which is now called the National Security Advisory Council).”[3]

Paul Joseph Watson followed up on this story:

“If you thought Stu Bykovsky's call for a new 9/11 was the lowest the Neo-Cons could sink, think again. A right-wing foundation with links to Dick Cheney has called for Bush to be made lifetime president, ruler of the world, and for Iraq to be ethnically cleansed of Arabs by means of a nuclear holocaust… Though FSM chose to delete the article from their website after it started to get bad press, the cache is still available and Atkinson's previous articles betray the fact that he is a real columnist and he really believes this crap!”[4] 

While many would reject the idea of Bush as permanent dictator as offensive, unlikely, and absurd, this article echoes a document signed by President Bush himself, which would theoretically give him a dictatorship in the aftermath of a “Catastrophic Emergency”.  The National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive signed on May 9, 2007 reads:

“’Catastrophic Emergency’ means any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions… The President shall lead the activities of the Federal Government.”[5]

While the media has remained silent on this document, many including Craig Paul Roberts,[6] Webster Tarpley,[7] and others[8] have spoken out on its significance.  Lee Rogers writes:

“This is nothing more than a power grab that centralizes power and will make the President a dictator in the case of a so called ‘Catastrophic Emergency’. It is insane that this directive claims that its purpose is to define procedures to protect a working constitutional government when the very language in the document destroys what a working constitutional government is supposed to be. A working constitutional government contains a separation of powers between three equally powerful branches and this directive states that the executive branch has the power to coordinate the activities of the other branches. This directive is a clear violation of constitutional separation of powers.”[9]

Is the Family Security Matters article a precursor to more Neo-conservative propaganda promoting the idea that Bush should be Dictator for life?

I had my suspicions about “Family security matters” when I read this from the website a few days before this Bush as dictator article came out:

“As a matter of pure logic, former Director Woolsey remarked that the first and most important condition necessary to keep America safe is ‘not to tie the president's hands’ when it comes to our intelligence programs. A prime example of what not to do is the spectacle that transpired in the Senate just this past week with liberals insisting that court orders be obtained under the FISA program to intercept suspected terrorist conversations occurring between foreign countries! What are they smoking?”

An August 20, 2007 article by Family Security Matters writer Luke Sheahan derides Kevin Barrett and the 9/11 Truth movement:

“Columbus 9/11 Truth is an organization in Ohio that argues that the attacks of 9/11 were an inside job. Got that? In June the organization hosted the ‘Truth Film Festival,’ which screened a number of documentaries questioning the government’s role in the attacks. The last two films explicitly argued that the U.S. government orchestrated the attacks… What would make distinguished professors at a major American research university fall for the patently absurd ideas propagated by the likes of Columbus 9/11 Truth? Or even allow themselves to be associated with such clearly unsavory fellows as Abukar Arman and Ahmad Al-Akhras? This isn’t just your run of the mill anti-Americanism, its full blown crazy black helicopter conspiracy theories. However, there is a connection. The vision that makes some academics anti-American also lends itself to making them conspiracy theorists.”[10]

While weak, ad-hominem filled attack pieces on the truth movement are common, I think it is reasonable to consider Family Security Matters a biased source of information, and likely a direct propaganda arm of the Bush administration itself. 

[1] CNN, Transcript, Transition of Power: President-Elect Bush Meets With Congressional Leaders on Capitol Hill, http://transcripts.cnn.com/, December 18, 2000

[2] Philip Atkinson, Exclusive: Conquering the Drawbacks of Democracy [sic], The Family Security Foundation, Inc., http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/, August 3, 2007 [embarrassing article removed from internet]

Google Cache of this article: http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:cnnnSRimWmcJ:www.familysecuritymatters.org/index.php%3Fid%3D1208571+%22president+for+life+bush%22+site:familysecuritymatters.org&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us&client=firefox-a.  See also:

Source Watch, Family Security Matters, http://www.sourcewatch.org/, external links:

“Philip Atkinson, ‘Conquering the Drawbacks of Democracy’, Family Security Matters, August 3, 2007. (This is an archived version of a FSM article that has now been removed from their site).”

[3] Marc Parent, Group that advocated Bush become "President-for-Life" linked to Bush Administration itself, http://mparent7777-2.blogspot.com/, August 16, 2007

[4] Paul Joseph Watson, Neo-Cons: Make Bush Dictator Of The World, http://www.prisonplanet.com/, August 17, 2007

[5] White House, National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive, http://www.whitehouse.gov/, May 9, 2007

[6] Paul Craig Roberts, My wake-up call: Watch for another 9/11-WMD experience, Online Journal, http://onlinejournal.com/, July 20, 2007:

“Whether authentic or orchestrated, an attack will activate Bush's new executive orders, which create a dictatorial police state in event of ‘national emergency.’” See also:

Muriel Kane, Old-line Republican warns 'something's in the works' to trigger a police state, http://rawstory.com/, July 19, 2007

[7] Webster Tarpley, The Next 9-11: Cheney Determined To Strike This Summer: Only Impeachment, Removal or General Strike Can Stop Him, http://www.911truth.org/ July 21, 2007.  See also:

Scholars for 9/11 Truth, GOP Welcomes New 9/11: Reports Lay Groundwork for Attack, Scholars Say, http://pr-gb.com/, August 3, 2007:

“A spate of new reports of al Qaida resurgence appears to be laying the foundation for a fake attack on the US to bolster support for the ‘war on terror’ and Bush's sagging political fortunes.”

[8] Larry Chin, New presidential directive gives Bush dictatorial power: National Security & Homeland Security Presidential Directive establishes ‘National Continuity Policy’, http://www.globalresearch.ca/, May 21, 2007

“This directive, completely unnoticed by the media, and given no scrutiny by Congress, literally gives the White House unprecedented dictatorial power over the government and the country, bypassing the US Congress and obliterating the separation of powers.”

Kurt Nimmo, Bush Pens Dictatorship Directive, Few Notice, http://www.globalresearch.ca/, May 30, 2007

“Bush may now declare himself absolute ruler at any moment and Congress can like it or lump it.  Naturally, this act of betrayal is of so little importance and consequence, the corporate media believes you are better served knowing Justin Timberlake is in love.”

Dave Lindorff, Martial law threat is real, http://axisoflogic.com/, July 31, 2007:

“This is all sitting around like a loaded gun waiting to go off. I think the risk of martial law is trivial right now, but the minute there is a terrorist attack, then it is real. And it stays with us after Bush and Cheney are gone, because terrorism stays with us forever.”

Kaleem Omar, Bush’s Critics Say Threat of Martial Law in The United States is ‘Real’, http://www.thenews.com/, July 29, 2007

Joe Gandelman, ‘Big Surprise’ Promised By Al Qaeda In Web Ad, http://themoderatevoice.com/, August 1, 2007:

“There are already some on the left and right warning about new emergency plan that would go into effect after a terrorist attack that would essentially put the executive wing in charge of the entire government.”

[9] Lee Rogers, Bush To Be Dictator In A Catastrophic Emergency, http://www.globalresearch.ca/, May 21, 2007.   

[10] Luke Sheahan, Chalk Up Two More Academics to Trutherism, Family Security Matters, August 20, 2007